The next lunar eclipse with good viewing from the States will occur in 2014, though stargazers eager for the next eclipse during a winter solstice will have to wait until Dec. 21, 2094 .
The autumnal equinox and vernal equinox aren't even midway between the solstices, which are the days of greatest and least light of the year, she added.
Winter solstice is a very important solar term in Chinese Lunar calendar. Being a traditional holiday as well, it is still now celebrated quite often in many regions.
At dawn, three weeks before the winter solstice, the last tendrils of fog curled gray against the pinking sky over a sand dune on the eastern edge of the Namib Desert.
The question "why" is a bit more problematic. Twenty century followers of ancient mystical beliefs are sure that Stonehenge has a connection with summer and winter solstices.
Finally, this raises the question — prior to 2010, when was the last time that we had a total lunar eclipse occur on the same calendar date as the winter solstice?
Although the solstices represent the pinnacles of summer and winter with respect to the intensity of the sun's rays, they do not represent the warmest or coldest days.
The last time a lunar eclipse occurred on the winter solstice, astronomer Galileo Galilei was languishing under house arrest for suggesting the Earth circled the sun.